Saturday, June 27, 2015

Jalie 3461–The Éléonore Pull-On Jeans (<3!!!!!!!!!!)

Well, people, Jalie has done it again. Another OUTSTANDING pair of pants. Just like Jalie 2908, I predict this to be a winner for them and us. Jalie asked if I would do some pattern testing for them and I excitedly said yes (YES! YES! YES!!). I’ve had this pattern for a few months and have made several pairs (I did get it free). It’s been hard keeping a secret from you people for so long, so here goes. And yes, there are a billion pictures. I know when I’m looking at jeans on someone’s blog, I want to see all angles and look at all the parts reallllll good (the South has not worn off yet – imagine that with southern twang).

This was my first pair. They were originally more straight leg and I pegged them a bit to make skinny jeans. If you look here, it shows you exactly what I did. For reference, I took 3/4” from the side seam at the hem, tapering to 1/2” at the knee, and then taping to nothing. Jalie had a great graphic on this page. Mind that I have the world’s smallest calves. This is a stretch denim that I picked up long ago to make Jalie 2908. It’s too stretchy for “real” jeans, but perfect for these. I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them.

Figuring out the “right” length on skinny jeans is a big challenge I think. I like them this cuffed length and just above the ankles (I show that below).

See the slight back gap, I’ll show you how I fixed that below. Remember this was my “test” jean and I sewed it “straight outta the envelope” (or, off the computer printer). I was really pleased with the results.

What are you doing, chickie, chick-chickens? They are peering up at me, hoping I’ll drop something down. They love me.

This fabric is from Joann’s. They have it now, I saw it just a couple of days ago. It’s a stretchy denim.

See? No butt gap and I’ve got a booty on me.

This is the other length I like; juuuust brushing my ankles. Another inch up might be cute too. These are tucked up under the pants to make them this length. The original pants are a little longer than this so you can scrunch them a little.

I should have done all the detail pictures on the blue pair. Squint and you’ll be able to see everything. Maybe.

On this pair, I knew I’d be cuffing them so I made sure to serge the seams to make them “right puuuuurty” when you look at them.

I used my coverstitcher for doing all the topstitching. It makes it go really fast.

I attach the waistband to the pants with two zig zags. That way, there is no chance that the waistband will pop when you pull on these to yank them up. You need a stretchy seam because this bad boy goes over your hips and then snaps back to your waist.

To solve the gaping issue in the blue pair above, I gathered, every so slightly the back waistband. So to make these unaltered, yoo have a front and back waistband and add elastic that is the SAME width to them, no stretching when you sew. For mine, since I knew about the butt gape issue (I have this issue with all things butt related), I marked the actual width (the white chalk line), and then pulled the elastic 1/4” further on each side, effectively gathering the waistband in by 1/2” It seems to work great and I can still get them on easily.

When you attach your elastic to the waistbands, make sure to use a stretch stitch like a zig-zag or coverstitch. It has to stretch to get over that booty and hips. You only see this stitching on the inside of your waistband.

This is the cropped length. I can’t figure out if another inch or two would be better. Like I said, length of cropped pants is sooooooo annoying. Then there’s heel height to take into consideration too.

OR maybe better this way? This fabric is also at Joann’s.

Smug bitch.

Okay, what else can I say about these pants?? They are AMAZING. They are comfortable, they are flattering, they fit with zero alterations (well, you can peg them like I did, or not), they come in all sizes from 2T to larger women’s. I think I can even get a little girl pair out of the remaining purple/black and red/black fabric.

13 comments:

Love them -and for the cropped length, I prefer the rolled up length. I almost bought a Jalie pattern last week but it wasn't available as a PDF, and I needed it in a hurry. I love the value of family sized patterns so my next pattern purchases will have to be some Jalie!

These are fantastic! And I love the fabric choices. I must head out to Jo-Ann & see if they have some of that. I've been wearing lots of pull on cropped pants like this since it warmed up. I can't wait to get this pattern to make the jeans! Your productivity amazes me!